Spring Cleaning in the Data Center

It’s spring – time to take a long, hard look at your IT infrastructure and clean out the server closet, sweep up the loose security policies and get rid of the old, outdated equipment.

Generations of women (and men; let’s not be sexist) could not have been wrong when, at the first sighting of the robin, they flung open the windows and let in the fresh air, thus beginning the ritual of spring cleaning. They beat the rugs, scrubbed the windows and generally got rid of the winter clutter.

It seems appropriate that IT organizations should do much the same thing.

When was the last time your company figuratively took a broom to your IT infrastructure? Cleared the data center of power- and energy-hungry equipment? Consolidated servers or storage equipment, or better yet discarded some of them altogether in favor of cloud computing services?

A thorough scrubbing of the IT infrastructure can save a company a whole lot of money by getting rid of power- and bandwidth-hungry equipment and creating a streamlined, more efficient environment.

IT services company CDW recently came out with its tips for IT spring cleaning, which make a whole lot of sense (see accompanying slideshow). The thought process behind the tips is exactly the same as what Mom and Grandma were thinking when they started their spring cleaning: Out with the old, in with the new.

Fresh air brings fresh thinking. And every IT organization out there could use some fresh thinking, and if a little spring cleaning is what it takes to make that happen, then bring on the bucket brigade. Soon enough, your IT infrastructure will be fresh as a daisy, and running at optimal efficiency, which will save your company a bundle in IT costs.